OPIOIDS AGONIST DRUGS MARKET ANALYSIS

Regional Analysis

Developed countries in North America and Europe are notorious for the high levels of abuse of this drug. Drugs such as codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and hydrocodone have become a source of addiction, especially among the population in these regions due to easy availability of the drugs in these regions. According to the World Drug Report 2016, a staggering 17.4 million people were affected by opioid drug abuse in 2014.

According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine (2011), the number of people who suffered from chronic pain was around 1.8 billion. Moreover, according to the NIH estimates (2015), one in 10 people in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain. Around one-third to half of the population in the U.K. suffers from chronic pain, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2016. Opioids are commonly used for treating pain, and opioid containing drugs are being misused or are being consumed in overdose when patients follow self-medication. Moreover, rising prevalence of pain, cough and, diarrhea are other factors driving growth of the opioids agonist drugs market. The highly prescribed opioid in the U.S. is hydrocodone.